Warm Cucumber Soup with Pasta

This made an excellent lunch. Light, easy, and a great way to use up several cucumbers that were past their prime. I did make the unfortunate choice to use soup pasta that happens to be shaped exactly like cucumber seeds, and so it was easy to perceive all the pasta as seeds. But that’s easily fixed for next time. I’d say this is yet another winner from the great soup-only cookbook.

The original recipe called for zucchini, rather than cucumber, but suggested that cucumber would also work. I agree. I really loved this soup, Gastronomike liked it. But then, Gastonomike does not love soups in general the way I do.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3/4 quart chicken stock

1 pound cucumber

1/2 cup small soup pasta

lemon juice to taste

1 tbsp cilantro

freshly ground black pepper

sour cream, to garnish

parmesan, to garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook slowly for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not colored. Add the stock to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil. Meanwhile, grate the cucumber and stir into the boiling stock with the pasta. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes until the pasta is tender. Season to taste with lemon juice and pepper. Stir in cilantro. Pour into bowls and garnish with parmesan and sour cream.